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Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol Thirumavalavan will contest the Chidambaram Lok Sabha seat as part of the DMK-led front in Tamil Nadu. Thirumavalavan said he would seek a symbol for his contest, while his colleague D Ravikumar, former MLA, would test his fortunes in the Villupuram constituency, contesting on the DMK’s Rising Sun symbol.

The ruling AIADMK on March 17 released the list of constituencies to be contested by the party along with its allies for the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat for the Union Territory of Puducherry.

Chennai 2000 Plus Trust invites participants to a field visit to view the 1,000 year-old inscriptions of Velachery, Tirusoolam and Adambakkam on March 17 morning, and Kundrathur, Mangadu and Koyambedu post-afternoon on March 17. The visit will be conducted by Dr M Chandramoorthy, former Deputy Director, State Archaeology department.

A ten-day Seminar will be held on Ancient Chennai 2000 - Puliyur Kottam including field visits by Chennai 2000 Plus Trust from February 18 to 28, 2019, to highlight the historical and cultural treasures of Chennai which is over 2,000 years old. Epigraphists, Tamil scholars, experts in the field of archaeology and history, will take part in the seminar to be held at various venues.

The results of the elections to three States – MP, Rajasthan and Vhhatisgarh – may have brought the Congress back to power and at the forefront of the struggle to dislodge the BJP from power at the Centre, but an analysis of the voting trends shows that the Congress needs to tie up with the BSP in various States to pip the BJP at the hustings.

In a re-affirmation of DMK’s commitment to be part of a front against the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, DMK president M K Stalin and his sister Kanimozhi called on Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on Sunday, ostensibly to wish her on her birthday, but more to consolidate the DMK ties with the UPA.

The results of the elections to Assemblies of five States, particularly Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, could come as a big jolt to the BJP not just in terms of the possible loss of power in at least two States but could trigger a more serious loss of nearly 40 Lok Sabha seats in these States.

Much as actor Rajinikanth tries to cover up his BJP tag, the issue keeps cropping up every now and then, blocking the growth of his political party. His statement a few days ago indirectly praising PM Narendra Modi is the latest in the saga of the actor taking one step forward but two steps back while trying to build an independent party in Tamil Nadu.

Chennai 2000 Plus Trust wishes all its readers and the people of Greater Chennai a happy birthday !!! Yes, Sept 30 is the official birthday of Chennai – the day when Chennai was renamed (giving up the British legacy of Madras) through a Government Order issued on September 30, 1996, 22 years ago.

The much-touted rally of Muthuvel Karunanidhi’s ostracized son M K Alagiri in Chennai on September 5 has been a failure of sorts as he failed to attract any DMK functionary of note, with the party showing it is solidly behind his brother M K Stalin. However, in the eclipse of Alagiri, lies another story of the DMK being left without a strong southern satrap or star.

Tamil Nadu, already earning a notorious tag for its efforts to put down dissent especially against the BJP, blotted its copybook further with the arrest of a 28-year-old research scholar from Canada, Lois Sofia, for shouting, “down with Modi, BJP-RSS fascist government,” towards the end of a Chennai-Thoothukudi flight when TN BJP president Tamilisai Soundarajan crossed her.

The newly-elected president of the DMK, M K Stalin will not be as towering a personality as Muthuvel Karunanidhi. However, he will be seen as a more inclusive leader than his father. Stalin doesn’t believe in berating those who have faith in God and religion, especially Hinduism, which practice antagonized several sections of society and alienated them from the DMK.

Leader after leader of various opposition parties, speaking at the Kalaignar condolence meeting in Chennai on August 30, stressed that the newly-elected president M K Stalin will play a crucial role in the formation of the next government at the Centre. For Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Pon Radhakrishnan of the BJP, it must have been galling to find a galaxy of opposition parties coming together under one platform which could be a precursor to an alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

For a city which has a history of over 2,000 years with its own culture, literature, music, dance, sculpture, trade and commerce, maritime activity, system of jurisprudence, effective administration, decentralized systems, elected local bodies, and what not, to be called 379 years old is the ultimate insult one can provide

M K Stalin has been elected unopposed as DMK president. He takes over as president on August 28 morning at the party general council meeting in Chennai when party general secretary K Anbazhagan will formally declare the results of elections to the post of president and treasurer.

Former Prime Minister and veteran BJP leader, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, whose oratory enabled his party to form government at the Centre in 1996, 1998 and 1999 general elections, died at AIIMS hospital in New Delhi on August 16, 2018. Born on 25 December 1924, he was the 10th Prime Minister of India, first term for 13 days in 1996 and then from 1998 to 2004.

The condition of former Prime Minister and BJP stalwart, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, is critical, said an AIIMS bulletin on August 15 night. Vajpayee was on life support systems, it said. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi rushed to the hospital to enquire about his condition.

DMK president and former Tamil Nadu chief minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi was laid to rest on the Marina beach as several chief ministers and leaders of various parties besides thousands of supporters bade him a tearful farewell. Symbolically, the leader of the party with the Rising Sun as its symbol was cremated around the time of the sun set.

Three people were killed and nearly 50 others injured in a stampede in front of Rajaji Hall where thousands of people had gathered to get a last glimpse of the departed DMK leader M Karunanidhi. The police resorted to a lathicharge after steps to control the crowd failed. The injured were rushed to hospital where they are undergoing treatment.